France has decided to submit its characteristic long and narrow loaf, the baguette, to Unesco to be included in the Intangible Heritage List, a way to capture all the tradition and professional experience behind one of the hallmarks of the country’s gastronomy. to acknowledge.
In statements published this Friday by Le Parisien newspaper, the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, announced that her government has chosen to defend the baguette’s candidacy before the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization ( UNESCO), which will not be pronounced before the fall of 2022.
France had long considered submitting that candidacy or opting for the tradition of building and repairing the typical zinc roofs of Paris, which eventually lost the game.
“The baguette is a living element of our heritage. It is alive but fragile because it is based on the exceptional experience of bakers,” said Bachelot.
The minister stressed that “it is a noble and falsely simple product” since, although it is made with a few ingredients, it takes “years” to achieve a good result.
“It’s a product that unites us, and that’s why I chose it,” he added.
The French head of state Emmanuel Macron had already expressed his intention to defend the baguette before UNESCO in January: “We will present it with all its characteristics and its 250 grams of perfection and magic.”
The chairman of the National Confederation of Bakery and Confectionery, Dominique Anract, was very pleased with what he called “a supervictoria”, but acknowledged that after four years of work there is still a long way to go.
The baguette became popular in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century and spread to the rest of France after World War II. The ingredients are always the same – flour, water, yeast and salt – but every baker gives his own touch to obtain its characteristic crispy crust.